400 pages |Trade Paperback

The definitive biography of the belovedoften controversialco-creator of many legendary superheroes presents the origin of Stan the Man.”

Stan Leewas the most famous American comic book creator who ever lived.

Thanks, especially, to his manycameosin Marvel movies and TV shows, Lee wasand even after his 2018 death, still isthe voice and face of comics and popular culture in general, and Marvel Comics in particular. How he got to that place is a story that has never beenfullytolduntilnow.

With creative partners including Jack Kirby and Steve Ditkowith whom he had tempestuous relationships that rivaled any superhero battleLee created world-famous characters includingSpider-Man, Iron Man, the XMen, the Avengers,andthe Hulk!

But Lees career was haunted by conflict and controversy. Was he the most innovative creator to ever do comics? Was he a lucky no-talent whose only skill was taking credit for others work? Or was he something else altogether?

Danny FingerothsA Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Leeattempts to answer some of those questions. It is the first comprehensive biography of this powerhouse of ideas who, with his invention of Marvel Comics, changed the worlds ideas of what a hero is and how a story should be told.

With exclusive interviews with Lee himself, as well as with colleagues, relatives, friendsand detractorsFingeroth makes a doubly remarkable case for Lees achievements, while not ignoring thecontroversiesthat dogged him his entire lifeand even past his death. With unique access to Lees personal archives at the University of Wyoming, Fingeroth explores never-before-examined aspects of Lees life and career, and digs under the surface of what people thought they knew about him.

Fingeroth, himself a longtime writer and editor at Marvel Comics, and now a lauded pop culture critic and historian, knew and worked with Stan Lee for over four decades. With his unique insights as a comics world insider, Fingeroth is able to put Lees life and work in a unique context that makes events and actions come to life as no other writer could.

Despite F. Scott Fitzgeralds famous warning that There are no second acts in American lives, Stan Lee created a second act for himself that changed everything for him, his family, his industry, and ultimately for all of popular culture. How he did itand what it cost himis a larger-than-life tale of a man who helped create the modern superhero mythology that has become a part of all our lives.